Zero
Zero is the character from Capcom's Mega Man X series and the main protagonist of the Mega Man Zero series. Backstory Zero was created by the late Dr. Albert Wily sometime in the early-21st century. His first chronological appearance was in the form of schematic blueprints during Bass's ending for Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters and described by Wily as his "greatest masterpiece." Learning from his past mistakes, including the accidental creation of Bassnium, and his construction of Bass and King, Wily constructed a new robot, far more advanced than anything he had ever built before with a power level far superior to that of Bass or Mega Man. Wily took the time to complete Zero, originally planning to use him against both Mega Man, and his insolent rebellious Bass. However, this never happened, and he was never utilized during the Wily Wars. Zero was routinely activated in a semi-conscious state during his construction, and Wily conversed with him, mirroring what Light himself did with X. Zero was aggressive and disobedient, and because of this Wily decided to seal him in a capsule. Decades later, in the early 22nd century, he was awakened by a group of Reploids prior to the first Mega Man X game. When he was first activated, he awoke as a Maverick (by the definition of wanting to cause harm to all humans) and destroyed all intruders who had dared to enter Wily's lair. Zero was later cornered by Maverick Hunter Elite, Gamma's Maverick Hunter unit inside an unknown facility, however at the cost of a total loss of said unit. Not wanting to get anymore comrades endangered by the powerful enigmatic Maverick, then-Hunter Commander Sigma himself challenged Zero in a fateful one-on-one battle. Even though Zero eventually gained the upper hand during the battle, Sigma was able to defeat the red Maverick after the gem on Zero's head began to glow and a 'W' symbol appeared, apparently causing Zero great pain. Sigma punched this crystal, shattering it and defeating Zero (subsequently passing on the Maverick Virus to himself). He was then brought to Dr. Cain, who analyzed him. After that, Zero recovered from his battle with Sigma and was placed under Sigma's watch. Zero did not show any signs of Maverick behavior and was enlisted into the Maverick Hunters' 17th Elite Unit. Zero had sacrificed his life multiple times as a Maverick Hunter and was usually rebuilt or repaired as soon as possible. However, towards the end of the Maverick Wars, Zero submitted his body had been examined by the top scientists, and his conscious, or control chip, was seperated from his body. A cure for the Maverick Virus was discovered. The cure was made into an entity known as the Mother Elf, and the scientists used the Mother Elf's energy to create Cyber elves that were used to spread the cure. However, Dr. Weil, one of the researchers, was power-hungry, and had stolen Zero's body and the Mother Elf. Weil created a Reploid of pure evil named Omega, who inhabited Zero's body. Weil then corruped the Mother Elf, turning her into the Dark Elf, and used her to control other Reploids. Meanwhile, the other researchers constructed a new body for Zero. This body was potentially even stronger than Zero's original body, and when his control chip was inserted into the new body, he began to fight alongside Mega Man X in the Elf Wars. The war was so large that 90% of all Reploids and about 45% of all humans were killed in the war. In the end, Omega was sent into space, and Weil was exiled from Neo Arcadia, a utopia for reploids and humans ruled by X. Zero, deciding that it was his own fault that these wars happened, decided to seal himself away for good. However, the Dark Elf was still at large, and X sealed himself away to restrain the Dark Elf. This would lead into the Mega Man Zero series, which takes place in 23XX, in a distopian future. Zero is awakened by Ciel, the leader of the Resistance against Neo Arcadia. It is revealed that the ruler is Copy X, an imperfect copy of Mega Man X created by Ciel. Years earlier, during an energy crisis, Copy X decided to label innocent reploids as Mavericks and exterminate them. Copy X was also served by the Four Guardians, known as Sage Harpuia, Fairy Leviathan, Fighting Fefnir, and Hidden Phantom. Over the span of the Mega Man Zero series, he would go from fighting the power-hungry former leader of the Resistance known as Elpizo, an imperfect clone of X, and Omega himself once more, as well as a final confrontation with Dr. Weil one last time, before leading to his death. Powers The ultimate result of the infamous Dr. Albert Wily's research, Zero was built with the intention of surpassing anything Wily had built before, and to destroy his long time nemesis's creation, Megaman, as well as his own misguided creation, Bass. Being made before the introduction of standard mass produced Reploids and during the construction of X, his internal processes and construction are considered to be more advanced than most known robotics and on par with X's parameters and capabilities. He is initially outfitted with an armament known as the Z-Buster, an arm cannon capable of firing of blasts of energy as well as manipulating it to launch it in special variations and projections. During the X2 series and onward, Zero adopts and becomes the user of the Z-Saber, a beam sword that became his trademark weapon. Not only capable of manifesting itself as a beam of energy, it is also capable of performing elemental attacks as represented by various colour changes, e.g. red = fire, yellow = electric, etc... Zero is also outfitted with the Learning System, a system not unlike the Variable Weapons System in its copying and adaptation of certain weapons, but adapts various abilities and techniques of opponents and enemies, and even goes as far as copying the kind of power emitted from the attack, should it have energy projection. As an android created by Dr. Wily, he possesses superhuman strength, speed, and durability. All reploids possess these attributes, but it is unknown on how stronger they are than humans exactly. However, underneath his exterior displays of ability and power, just like X, Zero holds an immense and potentially limitless capability for adaptation and power. Personality A hardened soldier, he is a war torn veteran, and is cold, calculated, and ruthless on the battlefield. However, he knows when to show restraint, and can easily tell right from wrong. He comes off as sarcastic and distant, even to his closest allies X and Axl. However, deep down, he is caring and would always put his life on the line for his friends, no matter the consequences. This can be proven by the fact that Zero dies a total of two times in the X series alone, three if you count the non-canon scenario of Mega Man X5 where he sacrifices himself to protect X from Sigma. He also acts as a mentor to X and Axl, and is a competent leader, being the commander of the Special 0 Unit of the Maverick Hunters. Outside of his duties as a Maverick Hunter, he yearns to find out about his past. However, in the Mega Man Zero series, his personality is a bit different, possibly due to his amnesia. He is far more silent, having very little lines in the first Mega Man Zero game compared to the rest of the series. He doesn't show a solid personality in this series, though at one point in Mega Man Zero 3, when his friend Ciel begins to question her actions, Zero assures her that what she is doing is right, and inspires her to continue going on. He also seems to be far more cold and cruel. In Mega Man Zero 4, he and Ciel attempt to warn a human settlement that they're about to be attacked by a space station called Ragnarok. However, instead of believing them and evacuating the settlement, the humans blame the reploids for the war and destruction that potentially destroyed the world. When Ciel persists, Zero tells her that the humans have been warned, and that it is up to them to decide whether to evacuate or be destroyed by Ragnarok. Lastly, the most notable difference in terms of personality between his Mega Man X incarnation and his Mega Man Zero incarnation is that the former fights for justice and peace as a Maverick Hunter, while the latter fights on his own accord, refusing to be acknowledged as a hero. Appearance In his Mega Man X incarnation, he sports blue eyes, a blond ponytail with a blue band, as well as a red helmet with several "horns" and a blue, triangular energy crystal in the center of his helmet. His body is the standard build of a reploid, despite the fact that he is technically an android, as a reploid is a replica of X built in 21XX. As of Mega Man X2, he also has shoulder guards with the letter Z on both of them. In his Mega Man Zero incarnation, his appearance is sleeker and more human-like. Like most of the characters in the Mega Man Zero series, he sports a vest that he wears over a skintight bodysuit. The energy crystal located on his helmet is now green, and he now has black eyes. His skin is also paler. Gameplay Zero plays similar to his TvC counterpart, and is versitile as a Rushdown/Cross-Up Point character. As in Zero's special moves don't do a lot of damage on their own, but are meant to be strung together in super-long and highly damaging combos. When facing a skilled Zero player, one opening from you can allow Zero to perform an extremely long combo that could potentially take away more than half of your lifebar, as well as being able to sport an interesting amount of pressure from said strings, to the point where Zero can build meter at a great rate with amazing hit confirms. The only notable changes for TvC veterans are that most of Zero's original crazy loops are gone (along with some of his original bread & butter combos), and in that his normal movements are improved to the point where Zero is no longer over-reliant on pressure, thus Zero can fight from both far and close better than before, being able to put pressure from afar with his Hadangeki and Zero Buster. Zero can still loop like in TvC, but his loops now require different methods of execution, which his new Raikousen move can be of great use. Also, his Hyper Combos have also been adjusted to be far more practical in their usage(especially Rekkouha), making Zero's combos more damaging overall than in TvC. In gameplay, Zero mainly uses his trademark weapons, the Z-Saber and Z-Buster. He also performs a wide variety of attacks and techniques that he gained during the X series. As a homage to his X series specs, Zero is has quite a low defense rating (or in this case, a low health rating). Get hit by a powerhouse and he's done for in 1 or 2 combos, so be careful about getting hit. or extending brutal combos. He also seems to lack quick mix-ups due to no overhead command normals, though his H.Hienkyaku can sometimes help with that. Using Zero requires him to be on the move at all times, ready to know what move to use; looping with Zero requires good execution as well as learning how to stick his Hyper Zero Blaster in combos. Learning how to utilize all his attacks to their fullest can make him dominate most opponents like the S-Class Hunter he is. A few unique things that have applied to Zero are that his 2C/crouching H does not hit low. His dash is also a run, in that he can continuously run for as long as the player holds the direction Zero is running, making him strong at tech chasing and making very versatile in controlling his running unlike other characters who must wavedash to either move fast (which Zero lacks) or be able to stop. Also, unlike Viewtiful Joe (and like Frank in UMVC3), Zero's jumping H no longer finishes air combos, and gains a new air combo/aerial rave finisher in its place instead. Command Normals *'Shippuuga:' (Hurricane Fang) Turning dash slash attack from MMX4, now colored orange instead of pink. Meant for BnB combos, can now cancel in to launcher. This move seems to pack less range than in TvC, and the assist version does one hit instead of three hits. *'Kuuenzan: '(Air Circling Slash) Zero's jumping H/C attack. Zero performs a frontward-somersaulting slash in midair. Comes from MMX4, but variations of this move appear in other Mega Man games involving Zero's appearance. If performed as 2C during a jump, Zero will perform the Kuuenzan while facing backwards (possibly as a reference to how Zero can turn directions when doing a rolling slash in the original MMX games). Works as a powerful crossup tool, even if Zero doesn't use the reverse version. Special Attacks *'Zero Buster:' Holding A, B,C or Dash makes Zero charge his buster, and releasing it makes him fire it. Can be used in midair, where Zero fires downward instead (but cannot OTG). If all three buttons have been used to dash, you cannot use other attacks until released. It can now pierce the opponent for 3 hits, and flies more faster when fully charged and has different colors (colored either green, blue, or yellow instead of blue mixed with yellow). It is a very useful attack in terms of extending combos, and can cancel into other special attacks. Origin is MMX3, which is the only MMX game where Zero can use his Z-Buster while at the same time is given the feature of charging it. *'Hadangeki: '(Wave Severing Attack) Fires a wave from his sword, the H version fires two waves in very quick succession. Origin is MMX7. *'Ryuuenjin: '(Dragon Flame Blade) A flaming sword rising uppercut. Comes from MMX4. As of MVC3, this move can't be used in the air since the input command for this is the same as Raikousen which is an air only attack. *'Sentsuizan: '(Spinning Chaser Slash) An aerial version of Shippuuga, a diving slash attack in midair, the L/A version is a fake move that can be canceled into an attack. Can OTG the opponent off the ground. Origin is MMX6. *'Hienkyaku':' '(Flying Swallow Feet) A dashing teleport move from MMX4, but provides no invincibility. Can dash in two different directions on the ground, or three in midair. Used for crossups and other certain practical uses, such as extending combos and mixups. Zero's feet now shoot jets as an added effect. *'Raikousen:' (Lightning Bolt Flash) New move for MVC3. Zero dashes forward with saber extended followed shortly by a streak of lightning, its angle can be changed going low or high. Comes from MMX8 although its color is blue now instead of violet, Zero is now also visible during the entire attack. The lightning streak itself is not a physical portion of Zero's hitbox, and is actually an energy attack, meaning Advancing Guards will not displace it. Assist Attacks Hyper Combos *'Rekkouha (Level 1): '(Rending Light Supremacy)' '''Giga Attack from MMX6. Punches the ground with a charged up Z-Buster, bringing down a salvo of rainbow-colored pillars of energy onto the opponent. Can hit OTG. The pattern of the beams is changed from TvC, and Zero is also no longer invincible during startup. *'Sougenmu (Level 1): (Twin Phantasms) Creates a shadow copy of himself that mimics his actions and doubles his hits from attacks. The shadow is now colored gray as opposed to blue, and now powers up all actions instead of just special moves (other than Hienkyaku). Power up attack from MMX5. Appears differently than in MMX: Command Mission, where the shadow was colored red and the attack was named Heat Haze. The gray coloring is possibly a reference to Copy Shot, a similar move used by the Robot Master Astro Man from the Classic Mega Man series. Cannot build meter in this state, though Zero's assists are doubled as long as this move is still in effect if he is tagged out. *Genmu Zero/Genmurei (Level 3):' ''(Phantasm Zero) Leaps up and pivots himself before launching a huge, supersonic energy wave from his saber. Based from MMX5 when fought as a boss, namely the 'Awakened' (or 'Maverick') form of Zero (which is also used by Zero Nightmare in MMX6). The term used during the attack, 'Ittou Ryoudan' (One Sworded Double Severing) is the art of cutting an opponent in two with a single stroke, and also references its use as an instant killing attack in its debut. Also one of the few Hyper Combos to do only 1 hit. Cannot OTG, despite its appearance. X-Factor Titles #'Reploid' - Clear Arcade mode with Zero on any difficulty #'A-Rank Hunter' - Clear Arcade mode with Zero on Very Hard #'Maverick Hunter' - Complete 5 missions with Zero #'Special Zero Unit' - Complete 10 missions with Zero #'Level-Headed' - Use Zero 30 times #'I Prefer Swords '- Use Zero 100 times Changes in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 * Health increased to 830,000. * Decreased hit stun time on all normal attacks (L,M,H). * Slightly increased horizontal air knockback from Shippuuga. * Applied limit on number of air Hyper Zero Blaster that can be performed in one jump. * Can cancel moves into Max Hyper Zero Blaster (except for Hyper Combos). * Max Hyper Zero Blaster no longer causes hard knockdown * Ground recovery time increased after Sentsuizan. * Changed angle of Sentsuizan H. * Raikousen will go behind an opponent in the corner. * Rekkouha has slightly increased hit area. Theme Song 300px Zero's theme is a remix of his battle theme from Mega Man X2. Trailer thumb|300px|left Ending Zero's ending has him hitching a ride with the Silver Surfer back to his own world. Silver Surfer, instead, accidentally takes Zero to Neo Arcadia, the setting of the Mega Man Zero series, due to him not being able to tell the two apart (as they are essentially the same world in a different time). They soon travel to a different world in order to take Zero back to his homeworld. Trivia *This is the fourth time Zero has appeared in a Capcom crossover game; he debuted in SNK vs. Capcom: SvC Chaos (in his form from Mega Man Zero), Onimusha: Blade Warriors (again in his MMZ form) and Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, but it is the first time he has ever made it to the Marvel vs. Capcom series. All these listed games have Zero as a hidden/mid-boss character, while save for MVC3, where Zero is introduced as a starter. *Zero's alternate color schemes are based on his allies X and Axl, as well as Bass (another robot built by Dr. Wily and Zero's technical brother). One of the updated alternate color schemes in UMVC3 is based on Vile, a recurring villain in the X'' series (in his X1 colors), while the others are based in X's super armor from the first game and the Megaman Zero color scheme. *All of Zero's attacks came from each of the ''MMX series games he was playable in from MMX3 to MMX8. **The Hyper Zero Buster originated from Mega Man X3, ''while Shippuuga, Hienkyaku, and Ryuuenjin originated from ''Mega Man X4. ''The Sogenmu and Genmu Zero techniques came from ''Mega Man X5, ''while Sentsuizan and Rekkouha came from ''Mega Man X6. ''The only move that originated from ''Mega Man X7 ''was Hadangeki. Raikousen originated from ''Mega Man X8. ''Also, his standing L, M, and H in that order is a nod to Zero's basic saber combo pre-MMX6. *Zero is one of only 6 characters (the other being Hsien-Ko, M.O.D.O.K., Spider-Man, Super Skrull and Shuma-Gorath) in the game to have a special quote fighting himself. This is due to him fighting "himself" in some games, namely in an opening cutscene in X5, and the Zero Nightmare in X6, as well as the Copy Zero from Mega Man X2 which Zero will destroy if X manages to have him repaired before that battle. *Zero confuses Sentinel for a Maverick - a term used in the ''Mega Man X series describing a Reploid that desires to harm humans (this is partly true as it was made to combat human mutants, but not nessearily humans in general). *Zero is considered the replacement for Mega Man in representing the series on MvC3. Zero is also considered the replacement for Hayato as well: both have similar fighting styles focusing on the energy sword. *Niitsuma, the producer of MvC3, announced that he replaced Zero with Mega Man because he felt Zero had more variation in his moves. *Zero is the only character out of the 3 who came to MvC3 from TvC with minimal changes to his actual model design aside from color fixing, the other two being Viewtiful Joe and Frank West. Zero's only changes involved his hair being to its usual length and form (in TvC had it somewhat thinner like in Mega Man X8), along with the aforementioned one-hand-open X6 stance. Joe's TvC model was exactly from his games (though he faces more forward towards his foe) while Frank's face gets some changes. Also, in terms of gameplay, Zero's movements are more improved, making rely less on pressure like in TvC(where he was considered high/top-tier.) All three characters even improve greatly on their offensive games(Moreso for Frank and Zero). **Both Frank and Zero have jumping C/H's that are normal midair attacks rather than air combo finishers(they instead have new ones), while Joe's original jumping C/H is now his j.S, while receiving a new j.C/H. *In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 one of his new win quotes can contextually be taken as a reference to (or even something of a jab at) the huge demand for Mega Man X: "If X were here, he would have tried to talk things out first. Unfortunately for you, X isn't here." Although it's highly likely the line is meant to be Zero suggesting to his opponent that if X were present before the fight it -along with their defeat- might not have happened at all, due to X's famous technical pacifist nature. Ironically enough, X himself is his DLC costume. *Zero is also the only TvC character to keep a Level 3 Hyper after being transitioned over to the Marvel vs. Capcom series. Both his Level 3 Hypers even come from the same game of origin, Mega Man X5. *Zero is classified as one of the shorter characters in-game, though he is actually estimated to be around 5'8 or 5'9. He is even called "an angry space midget" by Hawkeye. He is shown to be slightly taller than Wolverine, who is 5'3, and around the same height as X-23, though she is 5'6. *Zero's alignment may be in question. When he was first awoken, he was violent and disobedient towards his creator, Dr. Wily, and caused destruction everywhere, leading him to be sealed away for a century. Because this incarnation of Zero is the Mega Man X series incarnation, he is a Maverick Hunter who protects the innocent. However, there have been occasions where he has been turned to evil (though these events are non-canon), and fights X. However, in SNK vs. Capcom: SvC Chaos, he is in his Mega Man Zero incarnation, and was quoted saying "Humans are my enemy. Enough of this. Shall we?" as pre-fight dialogue. In the final battle against Dr. Weil in Mega Man Zero 4, he is quoted saying "I never cared about justice, and I don't recall ever calling myeslf a hero. I have always only fought for the people I believe in. I won't hesitate. If an enemy appears in front of me, I will destroy it!" *Zero has the most voice actors in all of his appearances (most of them in English), though in the Vs. Capcom series so far he's only had 3 different ones on average like most others (In both Japanese and English). Zero's MvC3 English Voice Actor, Johnny Yong Bosch, seems to make Zero via in name play homage to his other roles, including Nero from Devil May Cry 4' '''and' Lelouch Lamperouge/Vi Britannia 'from Code Geass. Some take it as a casting joke, while others take it a bit offensive in terms of Zero's casting from the MMX series. *Zero's ending in UMvsC3 is slightly changes so that after saying he isn't Mega Man Zero, he says right after if someone like that ever existed, which is semi-ironic, since both Zero and "Mega Man Zero" are essentially the same being, just in diffrent time periods. **But Zero himself doesn't know this since his incarnation in the game is his ''Mega Man X apperance, and his Mega Man Zero apperance never appers in this game. *Zero in the original released version of MVC3 had a snapback glitch with his Sougenmu, where if only Zero's shadow connected on a target during his Shippuuga animation(if any of their assists were on screen), the foe would fly out but no one would be tagged in, thus making Zero or his teammates all alone on the field. This lead to very cheap time-outs with such an exploit, and was removed in the update patches. (Zero's Sougenmu would end if he used a snapback). *Though he has never been called this, he is also known as DWN-Infinity. The term "DWN" stands for Dr. Wily Number. Artwork Zero_MvsC3-FTW.PNG|Original Marvel vs. Capcom 3 artwork. Zeroaxlxbasscolorswaps.png|Marvel vs Capcom 3 alternate costumes. Colors27.jpg|Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 alternate costumes. zerobvg.png|Zero's move set b6ac1d9ea5a0a9d2c7d19a2b1c0148b8.jpg|Megaman X DLC Costume 5558996fa39f8bdc618374877a75e53e.png|Zero Winning pose. Also See Zero's moves in Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Zero's moves in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 Category:MvC3 Characters Category:Good Alignment Category:Characters Category:Capcom Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Zero Category:Rushdown Characters Category:UMvC3 Characters